Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Writer's Digest - September 2009

Today I'm working in the cafe of my local Barnes & Noble. After sufficient amounts of diligent application, I stopped for a snack. From the news rack behind my table, Writer's Digest caught my eye.

I'm glad I decided to flip through this month's issue, and I highly recommend that you do too.

Featured are articles about how to write a query letter, the details of contracts, and descriptions and contact info for 24 agents who are actively seeking new authors. That's gold right there, baby.

And if you don't have an agent yet, yes, you probably should.

At least grab the magazine, and send out a few queries. What do you have to lose? Think of them as the slightly alien, vaguely aggressive salespeople who protect the purity of your art by dealing with the commerce aspects of publishing. If you ever hope to make money or a living from your writing that is.

If you don't care, then by all means, continue to devote yourself only to your self-determined message and your own Musings.

There's also a set of very useful articles about writing Memoir. My own is a few years down the road, I think, but it won't hurt to set the magazine aside and refer to it then.

I was in a friend's Memoir manuscript once, and the result shocked me. It was like being erased. The character who showed up in my place was so completely unlike me that I wasn't sure whether my friend was trying to be protective, trying to be insulting, or, the most depressing possibility, simply had never really known me as a person at all.

So I can't complain too much if I don't agree with the portrayal. At least no one will ever recognize me!!

And I'd have to say that this month's WD is a resounding success. If their goal is to write content so compelling that a reader wants to keep reading, well, they hooked me from the headlines. One more copy sold - tough economy be damned. I'll be taking my September friend home.

And reflecting on which of the agents has the most warm and friendly-sounding name.

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